Barley Wheat in Kamata, Tokyo

January 3, 2019

Barley Wheat The Bottom Line

If you’re in the area, then Barley Wheat is the best choice in the wilderness that is Kamata – just. It doesn’t differ much from the Barley Wheat Hamamatsucho branch, though personally I found the beer menu to be rather narrow in terms of variety of beer styles on tap – the IPA craze is still strong here. There is a small smoking box near the entrance that stops most of the smoke from coming in; however, Barley Wheat also tacks on a table charge (¥324), as well as not including tax in their prices either. Thankfully, there is some free WiFi in the area too, so you can check in on your phone while you’re waiting for the delicious food to come up.

Barley Wheat The Full Review

Barley Wheat opened in September 2016 in an area of Tokyo that I’ve never got off at – I mean Kamata for me is used as a changing point to get to Haneda Airport when needed. It’s not like I’ve ever thought “oh, let’s explore Kamata” but now it has some craft beer bars, I guess that was a much needed point to get me there.

Barley Wheat is located on the west side of Kamata station, which connects the JR station with the Tokyu line and is about a five-minute walk. Barley Wheat is found alongside the main shopping street that lies in front of the railway arches. Inside, there is space for about 60 people, with the majority at tables dotted around the bar, and a few seats at the counter too. While the main area of the bar is non-smoking, there is a small booth by the entrance that smokers can enter. I didn’t really notice the smell at the beginning of the night, but it was noticeable when I left. However, there is a table charge of ¥324 (including tax) that gets you a small jar of either giant corn or some dried bananas. You can’t refuse them and it’s unknown how long they have been sitting out on the table for, so I gave them a miss – knowing how dirty Japanese toilets can be at times, the last thing I wanted to do was touch these nuts.

Shiga Kogen IPA・志賀高原IPA

Swan Lake Weizen・スワンレーイクヴァイゼン

Shiga Kogen House IPA・志賀高原ハウスIPA

There are usually 15 taps of beer on at Barley Wheat, with the beers coming in two sizes – regular (330ml) for ¥700 to ¥900, and pint (473ml) for ¥900 to ¥1,200. There is also a beer tasting flight of any three 150ml beers for ¥1,300. None of the prices included tax, so factor that in, and also the beers came up ice-cold, so let them warm up before drinking, else you’ll miss out on all the flavours. There was a heavy leaning towards IPAs on the menu, and also ignore the colours of the beers on the menus – they really didn’t come up that colour!

The food at Barley Wheat is heavy geared towards meat, though there are some vegetarian options on the menu. The ribs were nice and juicy, and the salad was large – and of course there were chips but I ignored them as I have to branch out my diet. Unfortunately, none of the menus were in English so you best know some katakana at least before coming here.

Comments 1

This is important for at least one reason. If somebody has an early morning flight from Haneda, say about when the trains start running from Tokyo, he | she may have to book a night in a hotel in Kamata. (I did once.) A craft beer bar in the vicinity of Kamata station(s) should be handy. (I went back to the Keikyu line and rode to Yokohama.)